LILLE, France (July 27, 2024) – The Canadian Senior Men’s National Team opened their Paris 2024 Olympic Games campaign with an 86-79 victory against Greece on Saturday night at Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille.

RJ Barrett led Canada with 23 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 21 points, five rebounds, seven assists and two blocked shots, and Dillon Brooks added 14 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with a game-high 34 points for Greece, while Kostas Papanikolaou added 17 points in the loss.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Barrett became the third pair of Canadian teammates ever to score more than 20 points in their Olympic debut, joining General Manager / Executive Vice-President, Senior Men's Program, Rowan Barrett (21 points) and Assistant General Manager, Men’s Basketball Operations Michael Meeks (27 points) who most recently did so against Australia at Sydney 2000.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored on a driving layup to give Canada the 82-78 advantage with 42 seconds remaining.

After Antetokounmpo made one of two free throws to make it a three-point game with 32 seconds remaining, Jamal Murray sank a pair of free throws to move Canada in front by five with 15 seconds to go. A strong defensive stand from Canada forced Greece into a missed shot, and Barrett took the ball the length of the court for an emphatic dunk with two seconds on the clock to seal Canada’s victory.

Canada never trailed, holding on for the victory despite a furious push from Greece in the final minutes. Brooks, Luguentz Dort, and Dwight Powell each fouled out for Canada in the fourth quarter.

“Guarding Giannis [Antetokounmo] is not an easy task,” Barrett said. “Dillon, Lu, Dwight tried their best. Put pressure on them all game long. That's not an easy task. I mean, like I said, it's a team. It's all of us, and we did our job today.”

Canada shot 43 percent (25-for-58) from the floor while holding Greece to 39 percent (23-for-59) shooting. The Canadians made 28-of-32 attempts from the line (88 percent), compared to Greece, who connected on 24-of-32 free throws (75 percent).

Canada opened the game with their defence on point, forcing Greece into a shot-clock violation while opening a 6-0 lead after baskets from Barrett, Brooks and Gilgeous-Alexander. Papanikolaou connected on a three-pointer for Greece’s first points of the game, but Powell responded with a tip-in on the other end. Gilgeous-Alexander scored on a step-back jumper from Gilgeous-Alexander while being fouled by Nick Calathes. He made the free throw to complete the three-point play. Greece was forced to call a timeout after a three from Brooks, a pair of free throws from Powell and a three from Gilgeous-Alexander extended Canada's advantage to 12 points with 4:54 remaining in the opening quarter. 

“I like the start," Team Canada head coach Jordi Fernández said. “We were very physical. Our ball pressure was really good. We were running and moving and obviously, great teams with a lot of experience like [Greece], they're going to punch back, and they did.”

Greece closed the quarter strong, with a pair of threes from Papanikolaou, but Murray hit a pair of free throws to give Canada the 26-22 lead after the opening 10 minutes.

A steal by Murray led to a layup for Kelly Olynyk to start the second quarter. Canada's lead was seven after a step-back jumper from Murray and free throws from Barrett with 6:06 remaining in the half. Gilgeous-Alexander pushed the ball and found Brooks open beyond the arc for three to extend the lead to 10 points. Antetokounmpo and Greece kept pushing, but a baseline jumper from Barrett and a free throw from Gilgeous-Alexander gave Canada a 48-38 advantage at the half.

Canada opened the third quarter strong as the defence forced consecutive stops while Dort connected on a three-pointer, and a layup from Barrett extended Canada’s lead to 15. After free throws from Antetokounmpo, a three for Brooks extended Canada’s lead to 16 points. A three from Calathes and free throws from Antetokounmpo brought Greece within eight midway through the third, but they were unable to get any closer in the quarter as a floater from Murray gave Canada the 68-60 advantage heading into the fourth.

The Canadians led by nine early in the fourth quarter despite Brooks and Dort beginning the quarter on the bench, each with four fouls. After a three from Thomas Walkup and free throws from Antetokounmpo, the lead was down to four points with 7:27 remaining. Dort and Brooks entered the game, and Canada responded with an 8-0 run. Gilgeous-Alexander found Dort for a three and then hit a step-back three of his own. Free throws from Gilgeous-Alexander extended the lead to 12 with 3:24 remaining.

With Brooks, Dort, and Powell each fouled out, Greece continued to push. After four quick points from Antetokounmpo and free throws from Walkup, Vasilis Toliopoulos hit a floater to bring Greece within four, 80-76, with 1:16 remaining. Gilgeous-Alexander and Murray closed out the game to secure the win.

Up next for the Canadians will be a meeting with Australia on Tuesday, July 30, at 7:30 a.m. ET/4:30 a.m. PT. 

“We played against one of the best players in the world in Giannis, he put on a show out there,” Fernández said. “We tried, we couldn't stop him and we found a way [to win]. The next game is going to be Australia [which is] a very good team, a very connected team. They play very physical and very fast. I'm excited to play against them, and we'll be ready.”

Gilgeous-Alexander will see a familiar face as former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Josh Giddey starts at the point for Australia.

“I know his game like the back of my hand, and I'm sure he knows mine the same way,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. "It's going to be a fun matchup.”